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Surviving Cold and Flu Season
From Jazzercise, Inc.
(CARLSBAD, CA) Cold and flu season is in full swing and chances are you’ll be laid out with the sniffles at least once or twice this year. Ninety percent of Americans catch at least one cold a year, and estimates are that 16 to 20 percent more people were ill at the tail end of 2001 than during the same period in 2000, according to Surveillance Data, Inc., which tracks illness patterns worldwide.
But you don’t have to sit back and wait for the inevitable sneeze. Judi Sheppard Missett, Jazzercise founder and CEO says you can employ several practical strategies for preventing illness and boosting your immunity.
The direct assault:
- Wash your hands regularly; this is how germs are most frequently transferred.
- Avoid touching your eyes and face. Germs on the hands do not guarantee infection. It is when they enter our system through more vulnerable areas, such as our eyes and nasal passages, that they become harmful.
- Get a flu shot. Enough said.
- Drink plenty of fluids. You’ve heard this one from your doctor. Fluids help flush toxins from our bodies and speed recovery.
- Don’t share drinking glasses or water bottles.
- Get plenty of sleep (eight or more hours a night). One study found that sleeping less than seven hours a night doubled the chances of coming down with an infection!
- Don’t smoke. Smokers are several times more likely to contract respiratory infections and take longer to recover as well.
- Eat a nutritious diet. Recent research offers some interesting tidbits to consider, regarding this final bullet point. First, high sugar consumption suppresses white blood cell count (white blood cells attack invading organisms). And second, researchers at the University of California, Davis found that individuals who ate a cup of yogurt a day had fewer colds than people who did not eat yogurt. Some experts hypothesize that the live active cultures in yogurt, called probiotics, crowd out harmful microorganisms in your system.
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Indirect Immunity Boosters:
- Reduce the stress in your life. Whether you listen to music, pet your dog, meditate, practice deep breathing, or go to a movie with a friend, stress reduction is a key ingredient to wellness. Many experts agree that individuals under stress are more likely to get sick, especially when it comes to colds. So take care of yourself and make time for relaxation.
- Exercise! The American College of Sports Medicine notes that people who work out regularly experience less illness. Moderate exercise makes immune cells more active, according to David Nieman, professor of Health and Exercise Science at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. In research conducted by Nieman, women who walked for 45 minutes five days a week had half as many sick days as those who didn’t walk regularly. Moderate exercise also can alleviate mild cold symptoms, such as nasal congestion.
But what about exercising when you are ill - is it appropriate? The neck test is a simple way to determine whether it’s okay to work out or better to curl up in bed. If your symptoms are below the neck, e.g. body aches, chest congestion, diarrhea, chills, vomiting, go to bed! Also, never exercise if you have a fever. However, if your symptoms remain above the neck, e.g. nasal congestion, sore throat or sneezing, go ahead and exercise. Just watch your intensity and the duration of your workout.
Stretches are a great way to ease into and out of a workout and loosen stiff muscles when you’re not feeling your best. The following stretch lengthens the muscles of your back and waist, and can be done while seated. It's perfect for when energy reserves are running low!
Sit up tall in a chair with your feet placed firmly on the floor about hip width apart. Reach your right arm up and over on a high diagonal. Relax your shoulders down on your back, pull your abdominals in, and think of stretching your spine long. Hold the stretch for 10-15 seconds, breathing naturally as you continue to reach your arm up and over. Return to your starting position, then stretch up and over to the left. Repeat 3-4 times on each side.
© Jazzercise, Inc., 1999-
Jazzercise is the world's largest fitness program with 5,000+ instructors teaching more than 19,000 classes weekly to 450,000 students in 38 countries around the globe. For more information or worldwide class locations, go to jazzercise.com or call 1(800)FIT-IS-IT - Courtesy of Jazzercise, Inc. - jazzercise.com.